


Sleepless in Prague

by orphan_account



Category: Deus Ex (Video Games), Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, NSFW, Romance, Sexual Content, at least more often than he is canonically, eventually - I will be marking all smut, partially canon compliant, set before and during Mankind Divided, witty and sassy Adam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 01:09:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9150100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: As Adam begins his work for TF29 unit in Prague, life places someone quite unexpected on his way. Rated M for future chapters.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello readers! I'm super excited to start my first bigger project in the fanfiction department. A few quick notes and warnings - the story will be canon-divergent sometimes, especially when it comes to time period before Mankind Divided. All chapters will be properly tagged for smut, violence etc., which definitely WILL be included in this story. 
> 
> Apologies in advance for any mistakes that may occur - English is not my first language and also I do not have a beta reader. Feel free to contact me if you spot any mistakes, I will correct them.
> 
> As for the frequency of updates, this may be tricky, as I work part-time, study full-time and have to write my bachelor thesis this semester. So I can't promise you anything, but I will try not to publish chapters once in a year or something.
> 
> This chapter is a small story set-up and an introduction of our well-known hero, Adam Jensen.

That morning Task Force 29 headquarters were even busier than ever. He could hear that even before the door opened. “Verified – agent Adam Jensen,” a familiar voice stated and he felt as if he’d entered a beehive. It was never quiet in the HQ; agents dropping in and out, analysts with their heads constantly buried in work, jumping back and forth from their computers to paperwork with an occasional break for a sip of coffee, or a quick smoke... or a quickie. It was easy to lose track of time in there, as the number of people present seemed to be invariable. Adam really appreciated it that way; “Must be and old habit,” he thought, as he got used to not having a window outside in the office, never had one in his career. It was helpful, no view, no distraction, you get your job done instead of seeing another nightfall from behind your desk and cursing another day slipping through your fingers just like that. Adam made his way through the doorway and caught a glimpse of light brown hair near the shooting range entrance. Aria was leaning against the wall, scrolling through something on her reader. Sharp, bluish light was revealing dark circles under her eyes, it seemed he wasn’t the only one that didn’t get enough sleep recently. She saw him approaching and smiled faintly.

“Tough night?” he asked, resting his arm against the counter.

“Tough life, I’d say. Don’t worry about it,” Adam definitely didn’t feel convinced. “If you’d like to talk about it, you know where to find me, right?”

“Yeah, but I really meant it, don’t worry, it’s the usual stuff.”

Uh-oh, her application for the field agent must have been rejected again. In her situation it was a lost cause, but Adam admired her for trying.

“What’s all that about?” with his head, he motioned slightly towards the chaos behind him. “I have no idea, but it has been pure madness for a couple of hours, maybe they got a double workload or something? Of course, Smiley had to drop by with one of his clever remarks,” she rolled her eyes. “He said that they are running around like in 2027. Apparently a brilliant joke to him, but I wasn’t exactly amused by that, so let’s stick with ‘running around like crazy’, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Adam nodded.

“Not that I’d like to get rid of you, but I think you should get going. I heard Miller wants to see you and I doubt he will be pleased with you taking your own sweet time.”

Adam sighed. “Okay, see you later then.”

It was a miracle that he somehow got past the ground floor without being hit by anyone. Upon reaching the agent quarters he headed straight towards Miller’s office. He had a feeling that MacReady will already be there and indeed, there he was, but this time Adam hasn’t been greeted with Duncan’s ironic smirk glued to his face, one could even say his commander looked rather gloomy.

“You wanted to see me, boss?”

“I have good news for you, Jensen. Agent MacReady reported that you have got acquainted with our procedures and completed your theoretical training. You can consider yourself a full-time field agent from now on.”

 _“_ Not a moment too soon,” Adam thought and resisted the urge to let go a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t give MacReady this satisfaction.

“Where do I start?”

“I have a very important meeting that I need to attend now, so agent MacReady will fill you in, but from this day forward you answer directly to me. You will remain a part of the team, but we decided to bypass the chain of command in your case due to some...-“ Miller made a small pause and glanced at Macready “-…special circumstances.” Adam was observing the older agent, he was keeping a straight face for the whole time.

“I understand.”

“Arrangements have been made, your first task is to be assigned soon, so keep your comm channel online day and night.”

Adam nodded. Their conversations always looked like that – stiff, painfully professional and neutral, no questions asked. A kind of conversation that you have with someone you do not trust.

“I’ll contact you when it’s set. That would be all for now,” said Miller and waited for the door to close behind the agents before he entered the NSN room.

 

 

MacReady cut straight to the point even before Adam had a chance to take a proper sit behind his desk.

“So, Miller decided to finally let you off the leash,” he made a short pause, but Jensen ignored the taunt, visibly absorbed with turning on his computer and cleaning the mess consisting mostly of plastic coffee cups. There was no one in the room apart of the two of them, which was a bit surprising at that hour.

“He wants you to get to know the city a little better, so you don’t get lost out there while chasing the bad guys,” Duncan chuckled. “I suppose you hadn’t been going out a lot lately?”

“Not really,” Adam admitted. He took a stroll or two around his neighborhood, but that would be all. Full task force training usually took a couple of months, but he was to complete his in just one, which didn’t exactly leave him a lot of time for city tours.

“Don’t think I’m going to babysit you though, and I don’t have agents to spare either. They have more important stuff to do than to get you acquainted with every dustbin in Prague,” he continued.

“Don’t worry MacReady, I can always buy a guidebook.” Adam snickered. Truth be told, he would prefer anything over a tour with his commander, one of them probably wouldn’t survive it.

“Very funny. Finish your paperwork, Jensen. I’ll be in my office,” Adam nodded and let out a sigh of relief when the agent disappeared behind the door. He scrolled through his e-mails, nothing unusual – a reminder to pick up his neuropozyne from Dr Philips and a short announcement about quarterly refrigerator cleaning. Adam was glad he didn’t have to keep anything there, the leftovers have probably already established their own government. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to another day of paperwork, so he decided to grab a cup of coffee to delay the inevitable a bit further. Jensen went downstairs and found the kitchen space almost empty. Some blonde guy with a stubble that he has seen around once or twice, was sitting by the counter, reading a newspaper. Adam put the kettle on and took a peek at the title.

“’ _Samizdat_ ’? Someone had a wild imagination,” he commented. “What is it, the soviet Russia?”

“Not yet,” the guy flashed a slight smile, “but who knows, everything is possible these days.”

“A good read?” Adam asked. He didn’t know where that sudden urge to socialize came from, but it was a quite nice change of pace.

“Well, it depends,” the guy replied and handed over the newspaper, almost tipping over his cup in the process. “If you like people that are nuts about conspiracy theories, then this is the one. Definitely not my cup of tea. I read it only because the old guy told me to be switched on it. You know, we have to be up-to-date with everything, especially subversive rags like this one. If I was to choose, I would prefer Picus Daily Standard or something like that, but someone always has to draw the short straw, I guess. Keep this issue if you want, I have read it like ten times already.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, Jen…-“ he stopped, mid-sentence. “Sorry-” he apologized, tilting his head in a funny way, as if he was trying to see through Jensen's dark lenses.

“Don’t sweat it,” Adam said, interrupting the flood of words that was to escape the blonde’s mouth.

“And by the way, it’s Adam,” he extended his hand. For a moment Jensen was afraid that he wouldn’t shake it, but he did after a second of hesitation.

“Connor, Connor Holmes, nice to meet you,” he introduced himself. His grip was firm.

“Likewise,” Adam replied.

“Now, wouldn’t want to be rude, or anything, but I’ve been sitting here for thirty minutes straight and my boss will probably deploy a searching squad in a moment, so I need to go back.”

 “I get it, duty calls.”

“Exactly. See you around, Adam.” Connor saluted him sloppily with a finger, grabbed his coffee and went away.

The kettle switched off with a loud pop.

Jensen poured boiling water into his cup. He wasn’t mad at that guy. He obviously wasn’t mad for being recognizable, a kind of office celebrity, it was bound to happen, would be hard to overlook him after all. He wasn’t mad for being the subject of most of the office gossip. What angered him was that small expression, these couple of seconds before Adam introduced himself, when Connor thought that he had upset him. That moment when he looked uneasy, almost frightened, as if Adam was to gut him with a nanoblade.

It was how they perceived him that made him angry. How conversations ceased whenever he entered the lounge perimeter. MacReady’s team was a little bit more welcoming, but the overall impression would be exasperating if it wasn’t for Aria. She understood him well, even though she was never in his shoes, people seemed to be fond of her. No surprise, she was an intelligent, adorable woman with rosy cheeks, not a machine, an unpredictable creature to be feared, like him. He was mostly past thinking about himself in this, obviously destructive, manner, but such behavior was a painful reminder of the time of convalescence after the surgery, when he felt like a complete stranger in his own body and couldn’t really look at himself in the mirror.

Adam went back upstairs and forced himself to go through some papers. It wasn’t very effective – he had a terrible headache, words were melting into one big mess. Two younger agents, a short girl and a bald guy, joined in the meantime, causing him to feel even worse because of their constant chatter. Ironically, Adam has been put out of his misery by the person least expected to do so.

“Jones, Douglas,–“ started MacReady, striding towards them with a large pile of folders tucked under his armpit. “I’ve got a job for you. Find me a person that would give our  _friend_  there-“ he pointed slightly towards Adam, “-a tour around the town. Deluxe edition.”

The redhead girl, Mary Douglas, as Adam recalled, frowned “I think I know someone. Any special requirements?” she asked hesitantly. Adam observed the whole situation with mild concern.

“Naaaah. Do you have someone specific in your mind or not? I don’t really have time for gibberish,” Duncan glanced at his watch.

“Yes.”

“Good. Call them and let’s get this over with,” he said and stormed off the room before anyone could respond.

“Man, that was even quicker than usual,” said Jones and chuckled lightly.

“Stop laughing, I shouldn’t have opened my damn mouth. I’m just praying this works because I definitely don’t want to go and tell our magnificent superior that he has to keep looking,” Mary hissed and started digging into her purse, occasionally throwing some stuff into her partner’s hands. Jones looked at Adam and rolled his eyes in silent resignation.  

“Just tell me when it’s settled,” said Jensen and started scrolling mindlessly through Prague Daily Monitor’s website.

“Finally, found it!” said Mary with relief and went outside. She leaned against the railing and searched for a number that hasn’t been dialed for quite a long time.

And then she made the call.

 


End file.
